About

Arun Kumar is currently working as Professor of HRED, IIT Roorkee, NEEPCO Chair Professor and a board member of International Hydropower Association, held MNRE Chair Professor from 2013 to 18 and headed department of Hydro and Renewable energy IIT Roorkee from 1998 to 2011 and served on Board of NHPC Ltd, Govt of India PSU for hydropower during 2015-2019 as independent director. His research areas are Hydropower Development, Environmental Management of Water Bodies, Energy Economics and Policy. Prof. Kumar has over 42 years of experience in the field of Hydropower and environmental management of river and lakes. He served CLA for Hydropower on SRREN for IPCC. Prof. Kumar had received various awards and recognitions from CBIP, Institution of Engineers and Hydro Power Association. Currently he is Chairman- Technical Committee on Hydro Research, Ministry of Power, Govt of India, memeber of Centralmadvisory committee of CERC and Vice President of Federation of Indian small hydropower. He is Bachelors in civil engineering and PhD in hydropower from IIT Roorkee, Masters in Civil Engineering from IISc Bengaluru and Hydropower Diploma studies from NTH, Trondheim. He is a fellow of ASCE, Institute of Engineers (India), IWRS, IWWA and HIS.

Career Type:

Scientist/Researcher/Academic

Organization Type:

Universities and Academia

Expertise Fields/Interests:

Hydropower Development, Environmental Management, Energy Economics and Policy, Sand Erosion, Hydraulic Turbine, Floating Solar

Major Achievements:

Prof. Arun Kumar has been associated with the Department of Hydro and Renewable Energy (HRED), formerly Alternate Hydro Energy Centre, at IIT Roorkee right from its inception (1981) and his commitment, devotion and technical excellence propelled him to lead the organization (from 1998 – 2011). He developed the vision to see the department to grow into an outstanding center of excellence in the area of small hydropower and environmental management of water bodies (from 1998 onwards) well known nationally as well internationally. A. Academic Leadership His leadership, communication skills, capacity to motivate the officers and power engineers in the States, organizing educational and training programmes along with faculty members and domain experts from industry and government have resulted in HRED achieve national and international recognition as an outstanding department in the field of small hydropower and environmental management of rivers and lakes. HRED is today fully equipped with the state-of-art facilities, for which Prof Kumar mobilized both people, technology and financial resources. Since rivers in the Himalayas are the main sources of hydropower, he also acquired an interest in the Environmental Conservation of Rivers and Lakes and mobilized resources to acquire expertise in that domain. Presently, Prof. Kumar is contributing to teaching, training, research, policy, development and advisory in the field of hydropower and environmental management nationally. • He strengthened the M Tech programme (AHES) of the department, started in 1997 initially with 5 sponsored students to at present with 25 GATE, sponsored and International students. • For knowledge sharing and capacity building, designed and started offering short term training programmes to international participants on a regular basis (from 1996 onwards). • Initiated, designed and Obtained sponsorship of the exclusive programme “M. Tech. in Environment Conservation of Rivers and Lakes from Ministry of Environment and Forests, Govt. of India – the only programme of its kind at the IIT Roorkee in 2004. After a halt of sponsorship from MOEFC in 2013, have initiated and obtained sponsorship of 5 government sponsored candidates from Ministry of Jal shakti, Govt of India in Sept 2022 • Initiated/obtained professorial chair, M Tech fellowship (5 number per year) and Ph.D. fellowship (5 nos.) from Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Govt. of India and received by IIT Roorkee from 2011 onwards • Initiated and received ITEC support from Ministry of External Affairs, Govt. of India for two M Tech programmes of HRED since 2010. • Initiated and institutionalized the student’s involvement in site visits, projects and national reports and guidelines prepared for management of water bodies as part of curriculum to strengthen their professional skill. • Conceptualized and Developed through consultation 27 National Standards/ Code of Practices for small hydropower development and released in Feb 2014 with Ministry of New and Renewable Energy support. Further guidelines for conservation of water bodies and pollution abetment of rivers prepared for Ministry of Environment and Forest as well as Ministry of Jal Shakti, National Mission for clean Ganga. • Conceptualized, initiated and organized exchange programme with international institutions and experts. On invitation visited North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Middle East, East and China and within country to all the states for consultation in the area of small-scale hydropower development. • Planning and organizing regular interaction of faculty, students with industry leaders in the power sector and water management sector • Establishment of unique national Research and testing Facilities o Established the only Real Time Digital Simulator for SHP plants for training skilled workers for SHP and design of SHP plants. (Operational in 2007) o Establishing a state of art hydraulic turbine R&D testing laboratory as a major research and development national facility (inaugurated in 2018) o Developing a laboratory for Sediment Monitoring and Impact Analysis Studies in Hydro Power Plant (inaugurated in 2018) o Established the National Facility for Performance Testing of Small Hydropower Stations (the only nationally recognized independent organization for testing and evaluation of small hydropower stations) (operational in 2005) • Initiated and Planning, designing and formatting the proposal for Centre of Excellence for Regulatory Affairs and standardization in infrastructure at IIT Roorkee especially for power sector, power economic for understanding regulatory frameworks and mechanisms to strengthen power industry including regulators, government, utility and advisory institutions (from 2019 onwards) • Initiated the relationship of IIT Roorkee with Bureau of Indian Standards resulting in regular interaction and establishment of professorial chair in standardization (from 2019 onwards). • Initiated Roorkee Water Conclave, a bi-annual flagship event to exchange the discuss the domain knowledge in the field of water with the national and global experts by IIT Roorkee and NIH Roorkee jointly (from 2018 onwards). • Connected NHPC, a mini-ratna Government of India PSU, with IIT Roorkee through an MOU for R&D and establishment of NHPC chair leading to regular interaction, R&D and training support (from 2015 onwards). • Implementing comprehensive green energy in entire IIT Roorkee campus has been one of his specific contributions in the campus (from 2010 onwards). • Contributed in the field of small-scale hydropower and Environmental management of water bodies which is well recognized both nationally and internationally. B. Academia industry collaboration International • Invited regularly as international expert by international organizations like International Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and International Council for Science, University Network for Climate and Ecosystem Change and Adaptation Research, on assessment of small hydropower and Capacity Building in Cambodia, Sudan and Indonesia. • Board member (elected) of International Hydropower Association representing South and Central Asia for sustainable hydropower development to achieve net zero carbon goal since Oct 2021 National • Involved in Small Hydropower Development related projects of over 1200 MW capacity. These are at various stages of development such as Detailed Project Reports, Technical Specifications, Detailed Engineering Designs and construction drawings, Pre-feasibility Reports, Planning and Execution, Techno-economic Appraisal Reports and R&D Projects (over 1000 reports). • Conceptualized, initiated and implementing the concept of Jal Urja Mitra for creating technicians at grass route level for small hydropower projects in different state of India with the financial support of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy from March 2022 onwards. • Specially for Uttarakhand- Initiated and led a group of HRED to work as Expert Agency for SHP development (for year 2001 - 2010) for Govt. of Uttarakhand • Virtual Centre of Excellence – Water for Welfare in Uttarakhand – instrumental in establishing a virtual centre for excellence in water related matter from Uttarakhand Government with corpus of Rs 1 crore. • Fellow and Life member of several national and International professional societies and association of repute. C. Strategic Leadership • Contributed and later steered the HRED department from the inception (1982) to recognition from Parliamentary Committee on Energy (2010-11, and 2015-16), national and international organizations, ministries, collaborations and significant visible international footprint. • Formulated and achieved Multidisciplinary Approach and Team formation: With the core strength being in the small hydro power development and environmental management of water bodies, a large number of interdisciplinary proposals were initiated and executed utilizing the expertise of the IIT Roorkee in various disciplines and forming the teams. Networking with national, international groups/agencies was initiated by Dr Arun Kumar and has risen to a level which is quoted as reference bench mark at various forums. • Steered the department from net deficit financing basis by the State Government within IIT Roorkee Budget by obtaining finances from external resources until July 2003 and thereafter continued obtaining from both national and international sources through a large number of special research and consultation projects, which constituted almost one third of the projects sponsored at IIT Roorkee for several years. • Presented before various parliamentary committees on energy and environment (2003, 2010, 2015, 2016) and received appreciation and support of respective ministries. • Developed a strong team work among the faculty, staff and students and achieve the unique facilities and carried out national importance project such as national zonal plan on small hydro, cumulative impact assessment and carrying capacity of river basins and small hydropower data bank. • Developed in house skill and culcated the spirit of networking of sister institutions and domain epxerts by working across india with union and state ministries departments, organisations and private sectors leading to expanding areas of work from small hydro to renewable energy, waste management, rejuvenation of water bodies, pumped storage, regulation and policy. Has been the member of several national and state committees on the subject including expert panel for MOEFCC, IREDA, Ministry of Jal Shakti and National Mission for clean Ganga. • Leading the 175 years celebration of IIT Roorkee for conceptualisation planning and organising year long (Nov 25, 2021 – Nov 25, 2022) activities by students, faculty and alumni nationally and internationally including special publications, reports, commemorative coin and stamp, partnership with academic institutions and industry and support services to the children and citizen of the town through over 100 events for citizen and alumni connect as well as brand value expansion. • Served as at IIT Roorkee o National coordinator for DST World bank partnership initiative for African Centre of Excellence in Africa (12 centers in 9 countries) with Indian Institutes (7 IITs and 2 Research institute of excellence) o Green Committee from 2014 and again in 2018 onwards to develop green policy (vision document) and framework for the IIT Roorkee and facilitate and undertake Greening initiatives o Water group at IIT Roorkee for the coordination of 50 faculty in the IIT Roorkee with other institutes in nearby areas in the water subject since 2017 o Water for welfare – Uttarakhand government initiative since 2005 with a corpus fund received from state govt. • Significant MOUs for academia industry collaboration: Has been instrumental in signing of MOUs with International organisations, which include Voith Hydro Germany (one third share of hydro industry at global level), University of Itajuba (Brazil), University of Peradeniya (Sri Lanka), The Water Resources University – Hanoi (Vietnam), ICIMOD, WEC-HMG (Nepal), IN-SHP (China), REMC-AIT (Thailand), SCP Gestion Conceil (Canada), IH (UK), ITECO (Nepal) Kathmandu and HTA Switzerland. • Member of several committees on renewable energy of national industrial associations - CII and FICCI and recently became member of Governing Body for Council for Green jobs under Ministry of skill development since Oct 2015 onwards D. Policy and Planning • Formulated the small hydropower development policies for the states of Uttarakhand, Bihar and Assam and contributed to other states for small hydropower policy and projects identification • Advising regularly the ministry of new and renewable energy for the small hydropower policy and ministry of power for hydropower policy and pumped storage, NITI Aayog for hydropower and NMCG and MOEFCC for environmental water bodies. • Appointed as non-official part time Independent Director on the mini-ratna CPSU NHPC Ltd., where he encouraged and initiated the diversification of the business into renewable energy, enhancement in R&D focus and funding for the PSU. (2015-2019) • Led UNDP-WMO owned IPCC Special Report on Renewable Energy report as coordinating lead author for the Hydropower chapter 5 (2009-11). • Conceptualized and led the greening and sustainability of IIT Roorkee campus and established comprehensive use of solar energy through solar photovoltaic electricity generation (1.81 MW), 3.5 lakh litre per day solar water heating systems and 61 solar dishes for steam cooking, census of biodiversity of the campus, reduction in water consumption, energy efficiency and reuse of treated waste water. • HRED has so far prepared DPRs and appraised many DPRs referred by the State Governments and the Government of India relating to environmental conservation of rivers and lakes E. Strong industry academic interaction through advisory and sponsored projects. • Developed/completed /ongoing 35 sponsored research projects with outlay over Rs 70 crores • Principal Investigator/Investigator in over 700 advisory projects with total outlay of over Rs. 60 crores F. Financial Management • Planning and obtaining the funds / revenue for HRED and IIT Roorkee from both national and international sources through a large number of special research and consultation projects • Sponsorship has been received from union ministries, state governments and organizations, private sector including corporates and international organizations for various advisory and research projects and conferences for HRED and IIT Roorkee. • Instrumental in getting the chair professorial ship from MNRE, NEEPCO, REC, NHPC and BIS for IIT Roorkee. • Evaluating the promoting the infrastructure and R&D projects for their financially self-sustainability for National mission for clean Ganga, IREDA, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy etc. G. Liaison with Governments • Member of various Committees of the ministry of new and renewable energy, ministry of power, NITI Aayog, NMCG and MOEFCC in the domain area and state government. • Has been nominated for various committees such as Inter Ministerial Group (2012-13), NMCG for Dutch, Danish and Israel collaboration in the field of water. • Expert member of different committees of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Planning commission, Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Power related to the 10th, 11th, 12th plan committees. • Expert member of several state level committees on various aspects of hydropower and environmental management and Uttarakhand State Electricity Regulatory Commission • Is in close contact with government (centre, states, bodies) officers because of projects and committees resulting in expansion of the activities of the department • Active involvement with BIS, Niti Aayog and CEA for policy and technical inputs. • Private sector connect has been through for institute industry collaboration including elected as vice president of federation of Indian Small Hydropower since 2020. H. Awards • IIT Roorkee Research Award "HRED Hydro and Renewable Energy Award 2021" of Rs 1.0 lakh and Citation • NEEPCO chair Professor at IIT Roorkee Feb 2022 onwards • MNRE Chair Professor at IIT Roorkee July 2013 – April 2018 • Award of Excellence from Himalaya Power Producers Association in July 2017. • Eminent Engineer Award from The Institution of Engineers (India) Dehradun in 2017 • Uttarakhand Excellent Engineer Award – 2015 from The Institution of Engineers (India) Dehradun. • Surya Award (III) by Indian Institute of Rural Development and Social Services, Delhi (2001), • CBIP "Cash your ideas Award - 1991" for innovative and indigenous solution for Weirs in hills.